''Disney's American Legends'' is a 2002 American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

narrated by

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...

. A compilation of four previously released animated musical

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

from

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

based on American

tall tale A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it ...

s, the collection includes '' The Brave Engineer'' (1950), ''

Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...

'' (1958), ''

John Henry John Henry most commonly refers to: *John Henry (folklore) John Henry may also refer to: People Artists and entertainers * John Henry (actor) (1738–1794), Irish and early American actor *Seán Ó hEinirí (1915–1998), known in English as John ...

'' (2000), and '' The Legend of Johnny Appleseed'' which is a segment from the 1948 film ''

Melody Time ''Melody Time'' is a 1948 American live-action and animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney. It was released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of seven segments set to popular music and folk music, the f ...

''. The film's new short is based on

and stars

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard ( ; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Scree ...

and Tim Hodge. ''John Henry'' was later released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in ''Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection'' on August 18, 2015.

Content

''
John Henry John Henry most commonly refers to: John Henry (folklore) John Henry may also refer to: People Artists and entertainers John Henry (actor) (1738–1794), Irish and early American actor *Seán Ó hEinirí (1915–1998), known in English as John ...
'' (2000)

Based on the story of

, a mighty railroad worker who raced against a steam drill. * Production company:

Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida was a division of Walt Disney Feature Animation that operated from 1989 to 2004. Its offices were backlot of the Disney-MGM Studios theme park and visitors were allowed to tour the studio in The Magic of Di ...

* Director:

Mark Henn Mark Alan Henn (born April 6, 1958) is an American animator and film director. His work includes animated characters for Walt Disney Animation Studios films, most notably leading or titular characters and heroines. He served as the lead animator f ...

* Producer: Steven Keller * Writer: Broose Johnson, Tim Hodge, Shirley Pierce * Music: Score by

Stephen James Taylor Stephen James Taylor (born September 28, 1954) is an American composer best known for his film and TV scores. He has earned four Emmy nominations, two Annie nominations, and a DVD-X Award on "Best Original Score (for a DVD Premiere Movie) to dat ...

, original songs by Gary Hines and Billy Steele and performed by

Sounds of Blackness Sounds of Blackness is a vocal music, vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the Billboard R&B cha ...

* Art director: Robert Stanton

'' The Legend of Johnny Appleseed'' (1948)

Based on the story of

Johnny Appleseed Johnny Appleseed (born John Chapman; September 26, 1774March 18, 1845) was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced trees grown with apple seeds (as opposed to trees grown with grafting) to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, I ...

(voiced by

Dennis Day Dennis Day (born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty; May 21, 1916 – June 22, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and singer. He was of Irish descent. Early life Day was born and raised in the Throggs Neck Clason Point section of Bronx in New Yor ...

), a

nurseryman A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general ...

who introduced apple trees to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The short was originally featured in the 1948 film ''

''. * Director:

Wilfred Jackson Wilfred Emmons Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, musical arranger and film director, director best known for his work with The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Productions. Jackson joined Walt Dis ...

* Producer:

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

* Writer:

Winston Hibler Winston Murray Hunt Hibler (October 8, 1910 – August 8, 1976) was an American screenwriter, film producer, director and narrator associated with Walt Disney Studios. Biography and career Hibler was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Octob ...

, Erdman Penner, Joe Rinaldi, Jesse Marsh * Music: Paul J. Smith * Art director:

Mary Blair Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson; October 21, 1911 – July 26, 1978) was an American artist, animator, and designer. She was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company, drawing concept art for such films as '' A ...

''
Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...
'' (1958)

Based on the story of

(voiced by

Thurl Ravenscroft Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and bass singer. He was well known as one of the booming voices behind Kellogg's Frosted Flakes animated spokesman Tony the Tiger for more than five decades. He was ...

), a

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

giant lumberjack, and his blue-colored ox, Babe. * Director:

Les Clark Leslie James Clark (November 17, 1907 – September 12, 1979) was an American animator and the first of Disney's Nine Old Men, joining Walt Disney Productions in 1927. Early life Les Clark was born in Ogden, Utah in 1907, the eldest of 12 ch ...

* Producer: Walt Disney * Writer: Lance Nolley, Ted Berman * Music:

George Bruns George Edward Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) was an American composer of music for film and television. His accolades include four Academy Award nominations and three Grammy Award nominations. He is mainly known for his compositions fo ...

* Lyrics:

Tom Adair Thomas Montgomery Adair (June 15, 1913 – May 24, 1988) was an American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter. Biography Adair was born on 15 June 1913, in Newton, Kansas, where his father owned a clothing store; he was the only child of Willia ...

* Art director: Eyvind Earle

'' The Brave Engineer'' (1950)

Based on the exploits of railroad engineer

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1864 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Cen ...

. * Director:

Jack Kinney John Ryan Kinney (March 29, 1909 – February 9, 1992)Lenburg (2006), pp. 180 was an American animator, director and producer of animated shorts. Kinney is the older brother of fellow Disney animator Dick Kinney. Early life Jack Kinney was born ...

* Producer: Walt Disney * Writer:

Dick Kinney Richard Timothy Kinney (December 15, 1916 – March 24, 1985) was an American animator and comic book writer. His comic book work was mostly in Disney comics, writing stories featuring Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. He was the writer who, al ...

, Dick Shaw * Music:

Ken Darby Kenneth Lorin Darby (May 13, 1909 – January 24, 1992) was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized by the awarding of three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award. He provided vocals for ...

Reception

Mike Pinsky, of DVD Verdict, reviewed the compilation: "If, as James Earl Jones says in the finale, the message of this film is to 'look for the heroes around you and celebrate them', ''Disney's American Legends'' is an interesting, if half-hearted, attempt to carry out that advice." Kirby C. Holt of Toon Talk, commented: "Although the program definitely presents the shorts in descending order of quality, it ends on a high note with these inspirational words from James Earl Jones: "Look for the heroes around you and celebrate them ... you can find them in the past, in the present, even in the mirror".

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Disney animated short DVD collections 2002 films 2002 children's films 2002 animated films 2000s American animated films American anthology films American folklore films and television series Disney direct-to-video animated films Animated films based on folklore American children's animated films Johnny Appleseed Paul Bunyan Cultural depictions of Casey Jones Tall tales

Content

''John Henry John Henry most commonly refers to: *John Henry (folklore) John Henry may also refer to: People Artists and entertainers * John Henry (actor) (1738–1794), Irish and early American actor *Seán Ó hEinirí (1915–1998), known in English as John ...'' (2000)

'' The Legend of Johnny Appleseed'' (1948)

''Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...'' (1958)

'' The Brave Engineer'' (1950)

Reception

See also

Notes

References

External links

''
John Henry John Henry most commonly refers to: John Henry (folklore) John Henry may also refer to: People Artists and entertainers John Henry (actor) (1738–1794), Irish and early American actor *Seán Ó hEinirí (1915–1998), known in English as John ...
'' (2000)

''
Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...
'' (1958)